Lifestyle Changes

This has been a rough couple of years for me in the weight department. Somehow, sitting at a desk for 40ish hours a week doesn't seem to burn as many calories as chasing four kids. Besides that, I found out I had high triglycerides. I also realized I was perpetually congested, perpetually sluggish, and perpetually just not feeling good.

When the scale gave me a number higher than it had ever given me (even when full term pregnant), I decided I had to do something. I have said over and over that it was time, that I had enough. But the truth was, I didn't feel good enough to exercise and always changed my mind.

I was researching some of my symptoms and began to wonder if I might have Candida - which is basically an overgrowth of yeast in your body that can cause all sorts of things from headaches to back pain to acne to depression to digestive problems and obviously yeast problems.

I decided that even if I really didn't have the condition, it wouldn't hurt me to change my diet and see what happened. So the very next day, I dove in!

So! I'm not eating:
*Anything with any form of sugar in it because it feeds yeast. That is no sugar, honey, corn syrup, molasses, maple syrup, any kind of "trose" (dextrose, fructose, etc). I can have plant based agave or stevia if I just have to have sweetener, but as time goes on I need it less and less.
*No dairy except plain, unsweetened yogurt and butter
*No caffeine
*No fruit, except berries
*No wheat or yeast
*No vinegar, alcohol (so hard for me. LOL!)
*No starchy veggies like corn, potatoes
*No mushrooms

I can eat:
*meat and eggs
*rice, oats, and some other grains
*almost any vegetable (including avocado)
*yogurt, butter, oils
*berries

So I eat a lot of eggs with veggies in them, salads (with the one dairy/vinegar/sugar free dressing I could find), yogurt with a little agave and berries, steel cut oats with almond milk, soups from scratch. I can't eat hardly anything in a box or a can. I have bought wheat free/dairy free/sugar free pancake and biscuit mixes from the organic section of the store, so I can eat plain pancakes with butter and make small batch of biscuits for myself when I need some substance.

The first day, I thought I would die. The second die, I just thought it wasn't very fun. In time, I've really learned to adapt - except for some occasional cravings.....like when Bill brings home a whole box of maple bars! My new treats are frozen blueberries, pea pods, and Sweet and Spicy Tea. I'm learning to throw spinach and avocados in my fruit smoothies and enjoy soy and agave in a very occasional cup of decaf coffee.

I do plan to start re-introducing some of those foods into my system over time and see how my body reacts. If I do okay, they can stay - like FRUIT!

I've been doing this for four weeks, and so far I've lost 14 pounds and am completely off of allergy meds. I've felt congested for maybe two days of it. Most of my acne has cleared up. I've had two headaches (rather than 2-3 a week). I've had so much more energy, it is insane....which makes me want to actually exercise.